America’s Finest Blog: 5-08-2010

These are edited excerpts from editorial writer Chris Reed’s Opinion blog. Readers are encouraged to respond to him at chris.reed@uniontrib.com

Dem hopefuls ready to keep nullifying outsourcing law

There is no starker example of how Democrats on the San Diego City Council put public employees ahead of the public than in how they have blocked implementation of a 2006 “managed competition” ballot initiative allowing the city to provide some services using less expensive private providers. The measure won by a 60 percent to 40 percent landslide. In an era of constant budget headaches, the opportunities it provides to save money are immense and need to be pursued.

But Ben Hueso, Donna Frye, Todd Gloria, Marti Emerald, Sherri Lightner and Tony Young don’t care. They have sided with unions using procedural tactics to block the law’s implementation and opposed Mayor Jerry Sanders’ attempts to speed the process up.

The six always say this long stall isn’t about defying the voters. It’s about “doing this right” and making sure money actually would be saved.

Hooey. This is all about union power.

Now Hueso is leaving his District 8 seat to run for the Assembly and term limits are forcing out Frye in District 6. In recent weeks, the U-T editorial board has met with candidates seeking to replace them.

In District 8, candidates from local political semi-dynasties – Felipe Hueso and Nick Inzunza Sr. – offered the usual doublespeak on outsourcing, talking about “doing it right” and making sure it actually saved money.

But the candidate considered the front-runner – David Alvarez – essentially said he wouldn’t support implementing “managed competition,” period. How arrogant can you get?

Maybe this is how Alvarez got to be the unions’ favorite over the dynasty candidates – he most boldly stated his intent to nullify the public’s vote on outsourcing. But at least he didn’t play semantic games – or tell the U-T editorial board something different from what he told other groups.

Which brings us to Howard Wayne and Steve Hadley, two leading candidates to replace Frye.

Wayne offered some of the usual doublespeak – it needs to be done with care, some benefits appear exaggerated, etc. But he also said he supported implementation because voters had spoken and “managed competition is the law.”

However, that’s not what he told the San Diego Democratic Club in an endorsement interview: “We’re going to have to live with sacrifices from the public and the employees, but we should not be contracting out city jobs,” Wayne said, according to the progressive www.indybay.org website, which does lots of reporting on California politics.

Wayne doesn’t dispute the accuracy of the quote. He just tries to explain it away in an e-mail: “I don’t remember the exact words I used six-and-a-half months ago ... . However, let me restate my position ... . There have been problems with contracting out because it has led in the past to the taxpayers’ pockets being picked. However, I believe a law passed by the public should be carried out.”